Aston Villa’s Tim Sherwood: How I knew Jack Grealish was a ‘big talent'

19-year-old Grealish wowed audiences with his display at Wembley as Villa overcame Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final, and Sherwood has told the official Villa website that it was that performance that proves the youngster can go all the way to success.

“Jack could be right up there amongst the best of them,” the Villa head coach said. “The bigger the stage, the better he plays. He relishes it. That's the sign of a big talent.

“He ticks every box at the moment. I can't praise him highly enough.”

Grealish is certainly building a reputation for himself at Villa Park, having progressed through the Birmingham-based club’s youth academy before making his debut in 2014.

Under Paul Lambert, it was likely that Grealish’s development would have been stalled, with the youngster’s creative and full of flair style of play not lending themselves to Lambert’s tactical system.

However, Sherwood has come in and cut the bonds which restricted the team under his predecessor, and goals and attacking football have flowed with ease.

Grealish has been the biggest to react to this change, and it is no surprise that he is now starting to kick-on with his career, despite his young age.

Able to play to his strengths, Sherwood is arguably the best coach in the Premier League for bringing the best out of youth players, as he showed at Tottenham last season, and Villa fans will be hoping that Grealish can start to establish himself in the same way that Harry Kane and Nabil Bentaleb have at White Hart Lane.

Billy Hawkins

Billy is a freelance writer who contributes to various sites concerning football. Known to possess an obsession with statistics, Eastern European club sides, and Victorian football, he focuses upon the untapped potential of the Football League in the belief it is more enjoyable than the Premier League.